‘Was that all?’
‘No.’
‘What else?’
‘To give an opinion on possible criminal action, too.’
‘What was your opinion?’
‘That there was a case to be made.’
As she sat, Natalia glanced unexpectedly sideways and caught the look of smiling satisfaction upon Eduard’s face, and when Tudin called him by name there was a swagger about the way he stood. He rested his hands upon the chair-back in front and at the beginning looked about him, and Natalia got the impression he regretted not having a larger audience before which to perform.
Tudin led.
The facts, from the moment of the interception on the Serpukhov road, were essentially the same as she had heard from Kapitsa, and there was a basis of accuracy in the account of the conversation she’d had with Eduard and which Kapitsa had witnessed, at her insistence. But it had all been subtly exaggerated, inference hardened into substance, innuendo presented as positive fact.
It sounded convincing and devastating.
Eduard adamantly repeated that he had never doubted her protection: at Petrovka his mother had assured him he would be freed and no action taken against him. His deepest regret was that his mother now faced this and possibly further, more serious inquiries. He had never openly asked her to be his protectress. He wanted to cooperate in every way he could, which was why he had made the affidavit. He hoped his mother would be leniently dealt with, at this and any other investigation.
She was quickly on her feet, but having risen she did not immediately speak, regarding her son steadily. How could she have ever had any emotion or love for this creature standing before her, thinking about him in the same terms – my flesh and blood – as she thought about Sasha? Her only feeling now was one of loathing hatred.
‘Where do I live?’ Natalia demanded, harshly.
Eduard blinked. There was shuffling in the room. Eduard said: ‘What?’
‘Where do I live?’
‘I don’t … I thought Mytninskaya but it wasn’t.’
‘When was the last time you came to Mytninskaya?’
‘I don’t …’ started Eduard, then stopped. He shrugged. ‘Some time ago.’
‘How long have you been out of the army?’
Another shrug. ‘Quite a while.’
‘Have you come to Mytninskaya to see me during that time?’
There was no longer any swagger or superciliousness. Eduard was suddenly aware it was not as easy as he imagined it to be, and was leaning slightly towards her. Tudin was half turned, but unable to provide any guidance, from his awkward position. Guessing the direction of her questioning, Eduard said: ‘I tried, but you weren’t there.’
He was improvising! Natalia realized at once, from long-ago experience. He was lost without guidance from Tudin and he was improvising as he went along! ‘When did we last meet,
‘Can’t remember.’
‘The dates of your leaves and furloughs would be a matter of existing record, on army files,’ she warned, heavily. ‘It was six months before you left the army, wasn’t it?’
‘Maybe.’
Natalia was too far away to be sure, but she suspected there was a sheen of perspiration on her son’s face. Sweat you bastard, sweat, she thought. ‘What rank do I hold?’
‘Colonel. That’s what it was.’
‘Not what it
‘Not sure.’
‘Where do you live?’
‘Tverskaya.’
‘In what? An apartment?’
‘You should know! You’ve been there often enough!’
Natalia realized that her son was really remarkably stupid. ‘Is that what you’re telling this inquiry? That I’ve visited you there?’
‘You know you have.’
‘That’s not true, is it?’
‘You know it’s true! That’s where we reached our understanding!’
Tudin was turned away from Eduard now, head lowered towards the floor, and Natalia wondered how the man could have possibly imagined he would succeed with an attack like this. At once she answered her own question. The ways of the past, she remembered: once an accusation as blatantly false as this could have succeeded. ‘Tell the inquiry about that understanding.’
‘Already have,’ said Eduard. He’d been tensed but now he relaxed, believing he had beaten her.
It was important to inflate the confidence, in the hope that it would burst. ‘Let’s do it again. You were sure I’d get you out of Militia custody?’
‘That’s what you’d always said you’d do.’
‘When I came to Tverskaya?’
Eduard smiled. ‘Yes.’
The balloon was becoming stretched, decided Natalia. ‘What did I say, when I saw you in the cell?’
‘That it wasn’t just a matter for you: that you had to consider the Militia position.’
That was a fairly accurate recollection, she conceded. ‘How long had you been in detention when I saw you?’
‘Five days.’
‘When were you released?’
‘This morning.’
‘That is the agreement, is it? Your release in return for talking to this inquiry today?’
Natalia had hoped to get the over-confident, unthinking admission, but before Eduard could reply Tudin hurriedly stood. ‘I should tell the committee that I have today sent a full report to the Federal Prosecutor, recommending immunity in return for this man’s cooperation. At the moment, technically, he remains in Militia custody.’
It was the perfect rebuttal of what Natalia was striving to establish, that a freedom deal had been reached between Eduard and Tudin in return for Eduard’s testimony, and briefly Natalia was numbed by the despair of being so easily thwarted. For several moments her mind blocked and she couldn’t think how to continue – but more importantly how to win – this exchange with her son. And then her mind did start working again and the despair lessened, although she suspected everyone -the committee headed by the security chairman, and Tudin and Eduard and Kapitsa – would believe she had failed miserably to establish any sort of defence. Briskly she said: ‘We weren’t alone in the detention cell, were we? Investigator Kapitsa was there all the time?’
‘Yes.’ Eduard’s caution had returned.
‘He witnessed everything?’ A great deal depended on the honesty of the detective, Natalia realized: more than she’d anticipated until this moment.
‘Yes.’
‘Did you want him to be there?’
Eduard shrugged. ‘It was a matter for you. I didn’t mind.’
‘You didn’t suggest he should leave?’ Natalia concentrated not upon her son but upon Kapitsa when she asked the question. The detective was frowning.
‘No.’
Kapitsa’s frown deepened. Dear God, thought Natalia, don’t let him have reached any agreement or understanding with Tudin, as Eduard obviously has. ‘You identified me as your mother to Investigator Kapitsa the moment you were stopped on the Serpukhov road?’
